WHAT IF SCI FI TECHNOLOGIES CAME TRUE?

Credit Hour: 1 · Undergraduate Lower-Level

What if sci fi technologies came true? From AI chatbots that impersonate your ex to babies in VR and memory editing, the future is already here—and it’s weirder than fiction. This class explores emerging technologies that feel like sci-fi but are already becoming reality, such as AI chatbots that simulate dead loved ones, cloning, human-AI love relationships, dream-hacking tech, and other innovations that challenge what it means to be human. Each week, we’ll connect real-world technologies with exciting, speculative media like Severance and Black Mirror, using short reflections, group discussions, and case studies to dig into their social and ethical impacts. The course has no traditional final, but ends instead with a creative project where you’ll design your own speculative technology and explore its consequences. You’ll be left thinking deeply about how these technologies impact society, so come ready for deep conversations, wild “what ifs,” and intense questions about how tech is reshaping love, memory, identity, and the human condition itself.